As Hades backs away from me I feel like he’s removing a part of my immortal soul. My arms are outstretched. My fingers are needy. I can’t think of anything, but his lips and how I want them on mine again. His touch and how with even the smallest brush from his fingertips I feel like he’s scorching my bare skin. And the way he looks at me, like he’s undressing me with his eyes. “I’ll be right back,” he tells me. And as walks out the door I wonder how many times I’ll have to hear “I’ll be right back” through the lengths of eternity.
Hades
“What is it?” Hades growled as the ferry man. “What is so important that you had to drag me away from her?”
An annoyed knot tied itself in the pit of the mighty God’s stomach and if Charon didn’t start talking ASAP, that knot would change from annoyance to rage.
Charon was nervous; Hades could tell by the way he played with his fingers and the way he kept glancing warily over his shoulder. “Someone is trying to cross,” he finally said.
“Well, who is it?” Hades demanded. It was very rare that a mortal tried to cross into the realm of the dead while they were still, well, mortal. In fact, Hades knew the last time that happened was when Orpheus tried to retrieve Eurydice. And a wicked smirk curled on his lips when he thought about that moment. Orpheus failed…miserably.
“Hermes,” Charon hissed as panic etched across his crinkled up facial features.
“Hermes,” Hades repeated, robotically.
“Yes. Hermes.”
The pit of annoyance in Hades stomach turned to desperation. He knew that Hermes was sent by Zeus to retrieve his beloved. And he knew that even if he put up a fight the Messenger of the Gods was too quick and too nimble for Hades to catch. He was smarter than Hermes, but learning of his presence put his head in a fog. He couldn’t think straight which was very unlike him. And the fact that his cunning and quick witted nature had him stumped, frightened him. But it didn’t frighten him as much as the thought of losing her, Persephone.
Hades focused on the ground, a white asphodel blurred in his vision and in that moment Hades knew what he had to do. “Charon?” he said lifting his eyes to the ferry man’s.
“Yes, sire,” Charon said obediently.
“Can you stall Hermes a while longer?”
“I can try, sire.”
“I only need about twenty minutes.” Then in a cloud of black smoke Hades vanished, appearing in his dining hall. In the center of the table was one pomegranate and he knew that if he could get her to eat it, poor Hermes would have some explaining to do and also would have wasted a trip.
Hades shoved the plump fruit into a pocket of his cloak and appeared in front of Persephone’s door. He rested his ear against the heavy wood and heard her shuffling about inside. His time was limited. Extremely limited because he knew Charon and his greedy nature. And he also knew that Hermes always came prepared, toting a sandwich bag full of coins.
Persephone
I still feel like I’m floating as I flop backwards onto my bed. My lips are raw and pink and I close my eyes, outlining them with my finger. I swear I can still feel his lips on mine. The illusion of it feels so real my mouth throbs with heat.
There’s knock at the door and Hades opens it slowly and my heart leaps almost plummeting through my skin. A burst of joy sweeps through me and I beam at him. He’s not all coldness and death. He’s not the devil or the commander of the dead. He’s someone beautiful and warm. Someone most girls wait their whole lives for, and in my case practically an eternity. He fills me up with light and happiness and love. And that’s something I’ll never be willing to give up.
He plops down on my bed and I scoot closer, noticing the pained look he’s wearing on his face. I lace my fingers through his and his touch sends a jolt throughout my entire body. He kisses my fingers then gazes deeply into my eyes. “Is something wrong?” I’m concerned and I wonder if I did something to make him so upset. Maybe it was the kiss. I thought it was amazing, but that’s because I’d never really kissed a guy before much less a God.
“You have to leave,” he says sullenly and looks away from me.
“What?” I gasp, gri
pping onto his fingers. “What are you talking about?”
“Hermes.” His voice is full of sadness and defeat. “He’s been sent here to retrieve you.”
“Oh no.” I look down at hands and feel the severity of the situation as it sets in. My mom and Zeus must have sent the mighty messenger, knowing that he’d be the only one who’d be able to get me back. Grief squeezes my heart when I think about going back now. I don’t want to go back. I made my mental decision after our kiss. There is no way I can leave. I belong here. I want to rot in hell eternally on a throne of shadows and death with Hades by my side. I want to be his queen. “There has to be something we can do,” I say. “Don’t you have a plan or something?”
Hades pushes me back on the bed, resting half on top of me. His eyes sweep over my face and he traces my jawline with a finger before brushing back a loose piece of my hair. “I have a plan,” he muses softly. “But that’s only if you want to participate in it.”
My face is burning and my lips tingle. My arms and legs are shaking so profusely with want for his lips on mine that I feel like every part of me is charred. My organs are shriveling up and turning to ash. They’ll blow away with one gentle gust of wind if he doesn’t give me what I want. But he does. He glides his lips over mine. Kissing me softly. Sensually.
The kiss doesn’t last very long and I’m greedy. I’m a masked bandit on a train, shoveling piles of cash into a pillow case. I want more. I need more. Just a little bit will never be enough. A tiny brush from his lips will never be enough. “Do it again,” I whisper, breathless.
“What?” he smirks. “This?” He crushes his lips into mine and this time the kiss is deeper, passionate, and exhilarating. Before I realize what I’m doing my hands are in his hair and he’s sliding his fingers up my shirt. I can feel his heart pounding against my chest. Two hearts beating in sync. We’re breathless and tangled in lustful embrace, neither one of us wants to be pried away from each other.
He hovers above me breathless and a pang of want circles my heart. “Why did you stop?”